Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Warzone Season 1 Patch Notes Details Complete Update List and How It’s Handling Bots

Treyarch has published patch notes for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Warzone Season 1 ahead of its launch on PC and consoles tomorrow.

Following a string of smaller updates delivered throughout the last few weeks, today’s patch notes tease an update that is (unsurprisingly) the biggest yet. It’s got everything from weapon balance adjustments to details on Warzone, and while most of the news focuses on changes to Multiplayer and Zombies, the team made sure to iron out some Campaign wrinkles, too. There’s a laundry list of fixes for players of every shape and size, including those worried about players who want to cheat their way to the top.

One specific area Treyarch took aim at with its Black Ops 6 Season 1 update revolves around what it calls “disruptive behavior.” The team has adjusted ping thresholds to tackle VPN abuse and enhanced AFK detection in hopes of extinguishing boosting in lobbies. These are changes that should help ward off the use of popular exploits like bot lobbies, with additional tweaks to the anti-cheat measures sure to come as more updates arrive. Players will also be required to win 50 match-made Multiplayer matches before they’re allowed to dive into Ranked mode.

It’s all about making every aspect of the Black Ops 6 experience authentic, so it’s not shocking to see a bevy of weapon tweaks coming to Multiplayer in Season 1, too. While assault rifles like the XM4, GPR 91, and AMES 85 received general damage buffs across the board, their headshot multipliers have also been reduced. Shotguns users were handed some changes, too, including increased damage multipliers and even more general damage improvements for the Marine SP and ASG-89.

Omnimovement comes to Warzone

Black Ops 6 Season 1 alone comes with a long list of additions that will surely only change more as more content rolls out. Warzone, meanwhile, is an entirely different beast, but the team as Raven Software made sure to go over all of the details in its own post on the Call of Duty website. While things like Area 99 and omnimovement are sure to give fans of the long-running battle royale mode an entirely new hill to climb, there are plenty of other smaller changes here to help iron out the mode, too.

Those same Ricochet anti-cheat measures from Multiplayer will be carried into Warzone, for example. Warzone UI is also getting a massive facelift, which includes a legacy tab for previously unlocked Modern Warfare 2 and 3 customization options, an option to change your mini-map type, and a legacy content filtering system. Treyarch says it also brough back some original Warzone elements, such as equipment icons and armor plate shape.

More Multiplayer maps, modes, skins, and much, much more are coming with Season 1 when it arrives tomorrow. For a breakdown of the highlights, you can check out Treyarch’s roadmap here. You can also learn about some of the wacky Operator bundles, which include shark and racoon cosmetics, that will be available to purchase in the coming weeks.

Finally, you can see the full Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Warzone Season 1 patch notes below.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Season 1 Patch Notes

WELCOME TO SEASON 01

Season 01 of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is imminent! Tomorrow you’ll get your chance to wreak some havoc when Sevati “Sev” Dumas brings home a deal to take down the remaining Pantheon rats.

Until then, check out our Patch Notes for details on New Season 01 Content and the latest balance adjustments, gameplay improvements, bug fixes, and more.

Looking for Warzone Patch Notes? The team at Raven Software has you covered right here.

New Multiplayer Maps

  • Season Launch
    • Hideout (6v6)
      • Sharpen your combat skills in this mid-sized Multiplayer map featuring an extensive training site including target practice, an obstacle course, and a lifelike recreation of a vault and security room to help plan for the next mission to hit the Luttazzi crime family.
    • Heirloom (6v6, 2v2)
      • Crash a private showing of Luttazzi family art to create a diversion for the other Rogue Black Ops team as they execute the real job.
    • Extraction (6v6)
      • All hell has broken loose in the aftermath of a Crimson One ambush when the attack on the Luttazzis goes sideways.

New Multiplayer Modes

  • Season Launch
    • Ransack
      • Ransack sees you looting gold bars from crates dotted around the area of operations on 6v6 maps. Once gathered, secure your loot by bringing it back to your team’s stash.
  • In-Season
    • Prop Hunt
      • Prepare for an infamous game of hide-and-seek, as the fan-favorite Black Ops party mode is back! Drop into a Multiplayer map as a Prop or Hunter.

New Weapons (Multiplayer & Zombies)

  • Season Launch
    • Krig C – Assault Rifle (Battle Pass)
      • For a hard-hitting, versatile Assault Rifle that performs well across multiple ranges, look no further than the Krig C.
    • Saug – SMG – Battle Pass (Battle Pass)
      • Pepper your enemies with a hailstorm of lead using this rapid-fire SMG that’s perfect for breaching and clearing small spaces.
  • In-Season
    • Sirin 9mm – Special Weapon (Special Event Reward)
      • Take your game to the next level with this foldable Special category weapon offering full-auto fire with a slow and steady fire rate to help you stay on target up to the mid-range.
    • Power Drill – Melee Weapon (Event Reward)
      • There’s no better tool for the job than the Power Drill, offering a rapid attack speed for quick follow-up hits to get the job done.

New Attachments (Multiplayer & Zombies)

  • Season Launch
    • 12 Gauge Dragon’s Breath (Battle Pass)
      • Add some heat to your Shotgun blasts with incendiary rounds comprised of magnesium sparks that stick to and burn enemies over time.
  • In-Season
    • Buffer Weight Stock (Event Reward)
      • The heavier Buffer Weight Stock provides significantly smoother action through the additional resistance met by the bolt carrier group for the XM4 Assault Rifle, XMG LMG, and DM-10 Marksman Rifle.
    • XM4 Burst Fire Conversion (Event Reward)
      • Convert the XM4 Assault Rifle’s primary firing mode into a three-round burst to help conserve ammo and stay on target.
    • Kompakt 92 Burst Fire Conversion (Event Reward)
      • Convert the Kompakt 92 SMG’s primary firing mode into an exceptionally rapid three-round burst.

New Multiplayer Perks

  • Season Launch Window
    • Shadow – Strategist
      • Undetectable to enemy traps and mines.

New Scorestreak (Multiplayer & Zombies)

  • Hand Cannon
    • Available as an Event Reward in the Season Launch Window, this mid-level Scorestreak allows players to equip a massively powerful handgun for a finite amount of time.
    • The Hand Cannon can also be accessed in Zombies at the Crafting Table under Support.

New Operators (Multiplayer & Zombies)

  • Goliath (BlackCell, Rogue Black Ops, Launch)
    • Solidify your fiery combat mastery as the molten man of fire himself, Goliath! All biographical information for this Operator has been redacted.
  • Sevati “Sev” Dumas (Battle Pass, Rogue Black Ops, Launch)
    • A main player in the Rogue Team after the conclusion of the Campaign, Sev is ready to make a deal with the untrustworthy French Syndicate and is gearing up to take down the rival Luttazzi family to prove it.
  • The Replacer (Bundle, Rogue Black Ops, In-Season)
    • There’s no substitute for greatness. The Replacer has concluded his whirlwind Black Ops 6 takeover tour and has freed up some time to appear in-game, available as a Store Bundle shortly after Launch.
  • Competitor CDL Home and Away Operators
    • Two new Operators arrive just in time for the 2025 Call of Duty League® season, and both are available (along with a host of other content including a Weapon Camo) in the CDL Store Bundle. The first available Bundle includes the “2025 CDL Home” “Competitor” Operator (Rogue Black Ops), and the “2025 CDL Away” “Competitor” Operator (Crimson One).
    • Access either of the Competitor Operators to find the location where a variety of incoming Operator Skins will become available, once earned. Expect the following as Season 01 progresses:
      • CDL Team Packs for the Atlanta Faze, Boston Breach, Carolina Royal Ravens, Los Angeles Guerrillas, Los Angeles Thieves, Miami Heretics, Minnesota Rokkr, Cloud9 New York, Vancouver Surge, Optic Texas, Toronto Ultra, and Vegas Falcons.
      • Skins unlocked during Multiplayer Ranked Play for Challenge Wins, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Crimson, Iridescent, Top 250, and Seasonal World Champion.
      • Skins unlocked during Warzone Ranked Play for Challenge Wins, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Crimson, Iridescent, Top 250, and Seasonal World Champion.

New Events

  • The Hit List (In-Season)
    • Who’s next? Keep up your luxurious – but slightly corrupt – lifestyle during the Hit List Event. You’re offered up a take-no-prisoners mission: kill or be killed. The Hit List Limited Event gives players a board of contracts with one goal – take them all out. Cross off the entire list and earn some exclusive loot for hire.

New Zombies Directed Mode

  • Liberty Falls and Terminus
    • For those players looking to witness the Zombies story with a guided experience to complete the objectives of the Main Quests in Liberty Falls and Terminus, Directed Mode is available at launch.
      • Directed Mode offers direct assistance in completing the Main Quest with objectives listed on-screen.
      • All Side Quests, S.A.M. Trials, and the Rampage Inducer are disabled in this mode.
      • Rounds are capped based on certain steps in the Main Quest progression, with a maximum of Round 15.
      • The chance to earn unique Calling Card rewards for completing the Main Quests for Liberty Falls or Terminus before Directed Mode goes live will expire when Season 01 launches.

GLOBAL

Ricochet Anti-Cheat

Here is a message from our partners at Team Ricochet:Treyarch has delivered several updates to combat disruptive behavior, including:

  • Enhanced AFK detections to battle against account boosting
  • Adjusting ping thresholds to require players play matches in their region to cut down on VPN abuse

To unlock Ranked Play in Black Ops 6, players will need to win 50 match-made multiplayer matches:

  • This ensures that players are experienced with multiplayer before they enter the mode and gives #TeamRICOCHET a historical match history to examine before an account enters Ranked Play
  • #TeamRICOCHET also utilizes its Replay Investigation Tool to monitor replays of top players as part of the investigation process

Detection systems initially deployed at launch from #TeamRICOCHET to collect data to test for effectiveness will be activated to help flag accounts for action beginning with Season 01.

The security system updates listed above will also be active for Ranked Play in Call of Duty®: Warzone™, which launches at mid-season.

Armory

  • The Armory will go live in Black Ops 6 in S01 Reloaded when post-Event content is available to unlock.
  • In Warzone, the Armory will be available to unlock at Player Level 24 at Season 01 launch. For more details, check out the Warzone Season 01 patch notes here.

CAMPAIGN

Performance

  • Made improvements to mission intro sequence animations.

Bug Fixes

  • Updated text for a number of languages localizations.
  • Addressed various issues that resulted in infrequent game crashes.
  • Addressed a memory error that was forcing players to restart their game.
  • Addressed visual fidelity issues with water effects.
  • Addressed an issue causing the High Contrast setting to be on by default.
  • Addressed an issue where players would be mistakenly shown an out-of-bounds warning while navigating a mission.
  • Addressed an issue that would prevent players from completing a mission due to the untimely passing of Gladney.

MULTIPLAYER

Maps

  • Lowtown
    • Addressed an issue where the water would flicker for some players.
  • Protocol
    • Adressed an issue where the water would flicker for some players.
    • Adjusted the A S&D bombsite to prevent line of sight from artillery above.
  • Red Card
    • Addressed an issue where players could get outside of the intended playspace.
  • Vault
    • Adjusted the A S&D bombsite to reduce line of sights from start spawn area.

Spawns

  • Spawn logic updates across several maps to reduce the chances of spawning near enemies.
  • Adjusted start spawns in Subsonic to prevent damaging opposing enemy team at match start.

Modes

  • Addressed an issue across several maps where Hardpoint zones could be captured outside of the intended boundaries.
  • Addressed an issue where incorrect icons could display on the Next Hardpoint lock icon.
  • Addressed an issue where the bomb in Search & Destroy could not be retrieved if dropped on a destroyed vehicle.
  • Addressed an issue where the “Time is almost up” line would play too frequently in Gunfight.

Game Chat

  • Addressed an issue where some players were unable to hear each other during Intermission (between rounds) and in Post-Game voice chat.

Weapons

Throughout the pre-season we have seen a steady and healthy variety of weapon usage. Most weapons sit quite closely in both performance and pick rate, with no weapons dominating in both areas. As such our first round of Season 01 tuning changes will not be introducing any major shifts to the current state of weapon balance, and instead focus on elevating some of the weapons at the bottom of the pack. We are also addressing feedback regarding Assault Rifle damage in Hardcore and completing our adjustments to the shotgun slug attachment.

Reminder: We’re using a new Weapon Damage Adjustments tables to identify post-patch damage changes when possible. Need an explainer? Click here!

All Weapons

  • Adjusted weapon motion while moving and changing stances to improve aiming feel and centering (especially with optics).
  • Hold Breath focus state will now be maintained while firing if applicable.
  • Improved Weapon depth of field settings when performing a Weapon Inspect.

Assault Rifles

We are increasing the damage values for some of our Assault Rifles to ensure that they kill in just one bullet in Hardcore modes. The headshot multiplier changes have either kept the bullets to kill with headshots the same or even improved them at some Min Damage Ranges.

Shotguns

Strelok Laser Attachment Adjustments

  • Increased the time it takes to reach ADS spread from 20% of Aim Down Sight Speed to 70% of Aim Down Sight Speed

Slug Attachment Adjustments

  • Slugs allow players to run shotguns as mid-range precision weapons. As a tradeoff, they have limited short range effectiveness if you are not carefully hitting headshots

Marksman Rifles

We are adjusting handling stats on the burst rifles so that they fit more squarely into their intended roles. The Swat 5.56 has a slower fire rate within each burst and more recoil, making it better suited for mid-range engagements. Meanwhile the AEK-973 has better stability and precision, but a longer burst delay makes it a riskier pick when playing aggressively. We are also significantly reducing the power of the AEK-973 Rapid Fire, which was too strong not to take.

Sniper Rifles

We have been monitoring feedback on Sniper Rifles and are making some changes to promote more build diversity and improve the sniping experience before gaining access to a complete attachment set. We are lowering the baseline flinch on all Snipers and reducing the Flinch Resistance given by stock attachments. The resulting received flinch values are much lower up front and just a bit lower overall after equipping the stocks. We are also increasing Aim Walking Movement Speed bonuses on stock attachments to make those choices more valuable.

Lastly, we are improving the ADS Idle Sway delay by default on all Snipers, meaning that on average there will be less deviation from your point of aim when entering ADS. Our goal is to support the various sniping playstyles you all enjoy through several viable weapon builds. We will continue to monitor weapon and attachment data as well as your feedback to ensure that all sniping playstyles are fun and rewarding in Black Ops 6.

Sniper Rifle Class Adjustments

  • All snipers now have 1 second of 50% Idle Sway scaling at the beginning of Aim Down Sight
  • All snipers have had base Flinch Resistance improved by 17%

Gunsmith

  • Various updates to weapon descriptions.
  • Addressed an issue where stickers would appear in the Decal slot.

Perks

  • Slight reduction to Ninja footstep volume.
    • Additionally we’ve made a slight reduction to default footstep volume.
  • Addressed an issue that prevented Gearhead from being able to booby-trap enemy Care Packages.
  • Addressed an issue that prevented Equipment from replenishing with the Scavenger Perk.

Scorestreaks

  • Archangel
    • Addressed an issue where the rocket would sometimes explode immediately when firing near a wall.

Challenges

  • Addressed an issue where some Daily Challenges were not tracking properly.

Movement Updates

  • Addressed a bug causing player to be slowed when shot while mantling.

Theater

  • Added Nuketown and Private Match recordings.
  • Addressed various stability issues when viewing matches.

UI

  • Closed an exploit that allowed players to equip Operators they had not unlocked.
  • Addressed an issue where the AAR could close when entering the Scoreboard tab.
  • Addressed an issue earned and unearned medals would not display correctly in Collections.
  • Addressed an issue where the option to select an attachment skin would not be visible for some players.

Graphics

  • Addressed an issue where some weapon effects would persist on the character after changing weapons.

Stability

  • Added numerous stability fixes.

ZOMBIES

Maps

  • Terminus
    • Addressed an issue where defuse progress was sometimes not saved if the player stopped defusing during the Apocalypse Protocol Main Quest step.
    • Addressed an issue where entering a Kazimir after completing the Main Quest would teleport the player to the boss arena and down them.
    • Addressed an issue where loading into a saved game after unlocking the Pack-A-Punch machine could cause some doors to have inconsistent collision.
    • Addressed an issue during the Main Quest where connecting both Node Connectors at the same time would cause overlapping voice lines.
    • Changed the location of the Ammo Cache on the Seaside Path.
  • Liberty Falls
    • Updated the first Mangler whose arm is blown off to always drop a Mangler Cannon instead of only the first Mangler that spawns.
    • Resolved an issue where Blanchard would not be present during some dialogue.

Weapon Adjustments

The recent changes to Assault Rifles in Zombies were an unintended carryover from a global weapon tuning pass. We do not intend to inherit all MP weapon tuning without looking at how it affects Zombies tuning as well.

We have corrected this in this update, while also making a pass on increasing the damage performance of ARs in Zombies. All ARs have had their Pack-a-Punched base damage and overall critical damage increased. While you may see the word “decreased” in a few places, the performance for these weapons is still increased overall!

Additionally, the HE-1 Launcher has gotten a buff to become more useful at stopping hordes of zombies. When Pack-a-Punched, it will now have more stock ammo and a larger explosion with more overall damage.

Bug Fixes

  • Addressed an issue where camos were not being applied to Zombie Builds.
  • Closed an exploit that allowed players to have 3 weapons.
  • Addressed an issue where Wallbuy rarity would reset when loading into a save.
  • Addressed an issue where yellow damage numbers would appear when hitting a critical spot with the Ray Gun.

Perks

  • Quick Revive
    • Dying Wish Augment
      • Addressed an issue where Dying Wish could activate when diving from large heights while protected from fall damage.
  • Elemental Pop
    • Addressed an issue where Elemental Pop would prevent normal Ammo Mod activations.
  • Jugger-nog
    • Turtle Shell Augment
      • Turtle Shell will now apply damage mitigation when being grabbed by an Amalgam.
  • PHD Flopper
    • Addressed an issue where diving onto an elevated or inclined surface, such as stairs or up a hill, would not activate the perk.

GobbleGums

  • Addressed an issue that prevented players revived by Near Death Experience from keeping all their Perks.

Field Upgrades

  • Adjusted the description for the Energy Mine to no longer say it deals Electrical damage to accurately reflect the damage type.
  • Increased Dark Flare damage from 25% to 40% of the base zombie max health per tick.
  • Addressed an issue where an extra charge on Field Upgrades would be lost when loading a save.

Support

  • Addressed an issue that could cause the Mutant Injection to end early when near water.
  • Addressed an issue that allowed the player to pick up a Sentry Turret while using Mutant Injection.
  • Reduced self-damage from the LDBR.

Save & Load

  • Closed an exploit that allowed keeping a save file after it had already been loaded.

Enemies

  • Addressed an issue where zombies charmed by Brain Rot could prevent the player from completing an exfil.
  • Addressed an issue where loading a save would disable the rampage inducer if it was active.
  • Addressed an issue where zombies would throw guts at the end camera if the player leaves the match to end the game.
  • Terminus
    • Addressed an issue where rarely the round would not end after killing all zombies.
    • Addressed an issue where the Amalgam could grab the player while slowed.
    • Addressed an issue where the Amalgam could pull players into walls causing them to get stuck.
    • Addressed an issue where diving while being hit by knockback from Patient 13 could push the player further than intended.
  • Liberty Falls
    • Addressed an issue that prevented the Abomination from spawning inside Fuller’s Liberty Lanes.
    • Addressed an issue where the Abomination could fire off a beam attack before leaving a spawn closet.

Activities

  • Addressed an issue that would prevent one elite from spawning consistently during exfil from rounds 16 onward
  • Updated S.A.M. Trials that required the player to not take damage to display a progress bar instead of a timer.
  • Terminus.
    • Addressed an issue where players would be able to use Equipment, Scorestreaks, and fire weapons during the Boat Race awards sequence.

XP Earn Rates

  • Addressed an issue where XP was being awarded to all weapons being used in an assist instead of just the last one.
    • If two weapons were used in an assist only the last one used by the players getting the assist will be awarded XP.

Challenges

  • Addressed an issue where Wall Buys would not progress the Prestige 8 Challenge Value Town.
  • Addressed an issue where Legendary GobbleGums would progress the Ultra Prestige 8 Challenge Full Power instead of Ultra GobbleGums.
  • Addressed an issue where the Liberated Challenge could be completed by saving and quitting before starting the final encounter.
  • Addressed an issue that would complete the Social Distancing and Invincible Challenges by joining a game in progress.
  • Addressed an issue that would complete the Harbinger of Doom Challenge when loading into a saved game and using a Scorestreak.
  • Addressed an issue where the Prestige 5 Challenge Fire & Forget would mention needing a Bombing Run medal instead a Lethality medal.
  • Addressed an issue where the player would not complete Outrageous Challenge until Round 16 instead of Round 15.
  • Addressed an issue where loading a save past Round 25 would complete the Sticks N’ Stones Challenge.
  • Addressed an issue where the Dark Journey Challenge could show as not complete when unlocking Nebula on 33 weapons and being awarded the Calling Card.

AFK Detection

  • We have updated the detection logic to determine if a player is AFK during an active match.
    • This should reduce the amount of false positive AFK kicks in Zombies.
  • Added AFK Kick warning UI to ZM

UI

  • Updated visuals on all GobbleGums to improve readability.
  • Addressed an issue where the Boat UI would overlap with the Map with the Central Command HUD preset.
  • Addressed an issue where the Drop Node Connecter prompt during the Terminus Main Quest would overlap with the Map with the Central Command HUD preset.
  • Addressed an issue where the Round number would initially be displayed incorrectly when loading a save.
  • Addressed an issue where the Weapon Stats on the AAR would show the loadout players started with instead of the loadout they ended with.
  • Addressed an issue where some items would show the wrong text on the Tac Map when pinged.
  • Removed Multiplayer information from Melee Weapon descriptions.
  • Added a Highest Round icon to the AAR when reaching a new personal highest round.
  • Added a timer to the scoreboard.
  • Added a notification when picking up Intel.

Graphics

  • Addressed an issue on PS4 where some effects would stop rendering at higher rounds.
  • Addressed an issue where some effects for the Mutant Injection were not working when Sprinting.
  • Addressed an issue where the character effects from Brutus would be present during Mutant Injection.
  • Liberty Falls
    • Addressed an issue where some damaged vehicles would not have smoke effects.

Stability

  • Addressed an issue where the game could crash when attempting to start a solo match after playing in splitscreen.
  • Addressed an issue where sometimes the player would be unable to Save & Quit with the error “The game failed to save for an unknown reason. Try again later.”
  • Added numerous stability fixes.

Call of Duty: Warzone Patch Notes

Season 01 of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is imminent! Tomorrow, you’ll get your chance to wreak some havoc when Sevati “Sev” Dumas brings home a deal to take down the remaining Pantheon rats.

Until then, check out our Patch Notes for details on New Season 01 Content and the latest balance adjustments, gameplay improvements, bug fixes, and more.

Looking for Multiplayer or Zombies Patch Notes? The team at Treyarch has you covered right here.

RICOCHET ANTI-CHEAT

Treyarch has delivered several updates to combat disruptive behavior, including:

  • Enhanced AFK detections to battle against account boosting
  • Adjusting ping thresholds to require players play matches in their region to cut down on VPN abuse

To unlock Ranked Play in Black Ops 6, players will need to win 50 match-made multiplayer matches:

  • This ensures that players are experienced with multiplayer before they enter the mode and gives #TeamRICOCHET a historical match history to examine before an account enters Ranked Play
  • #TeamRICOCHET also utilizes its Replay Investigation Tool to monitor replays of top players as part of the investigation process

Detection systems initially deployed at launch from #TeamRICOCHET to collect data to test for effectiveness will be activated to help flag accounts for action beginning with Season 01.

The security system updates listed above will also be active for Ranked Play in Call of Duty®: Warzone™, which launches at mid-season.

EVENTS

The Hit List (Launch Window)

Who’s next? Keep up your luxurious – but slightly corrupt – lifestyle during the Hit List Event. You’re offered up a take-no-prisoners mission: kill or be killed. The Hit List Limited Event gives players a board of contracts with one goal – take them all out. Cross off the entire list and earn some exclusive loot for hire.

BATTLE PASS

An all-new Battle Pass System grants you the opportunity to earn 100+ rewards, including free base weapons, numerous Weapon Blueprints, Equipment Skins, Operator Skins, and much more. There are three ways to obtain some or all of this content:

  • Earn 20+ free rewards, including cosmetic content and base weapons.
  • Purchase the premium Battle Pass and earn up to 1,100 COD Points as you progress through the Battle Pass Pages.
  • Or purchase BlackCell for the ultimate seasonal experience, including a variety of molten hot Operator Skins, Weapon Blueprints, COD points, and other rewards.

For a full breakdown of the Season 01 Battle Pass and the breadth of content that it has to offer, check out the official blog here.

WARZONE

MAPS

New Map

Area 99

Season 01 introduces Area 99, a new Warzone map designed by Treyarch and inspired by Nuketown’s high-paced gameplay. This map is set in the Nevada desert at the Echo Ridge Weapons Station — a hidden 1950s government site abandoned after a reactor leak. The map offers intense, tactical combat through desert roadways, open trenches, and pipework around a central Reactor “bullseye,” anticipated as the hottest drop zone. Another key point of interest is a massive crane suspending a Nuketown house in the Loading Bay, adding to the map’s unique and dynamic environment.

  • Points of Interest
    • Reactor
    • Bunker
    • Test Site
    • Mannequin Assembly
    • Cooling Towers
    • Nuketown Shipping
    • Loading Bay
    • Warehouse
    • Manufacturing
    • Pods

Returning Maps

Urzikstan

The “big map” returns to its early days featuring familiar landmarks from before the destruction of Popov Power Plant and the arrival of the Atlas Superstore.

Enhanced with Black Ops 6 innovations, Urzikstan is the staging ground for a fierce Ranked Play Battle Royale later when Season 01’s Mid-Season launches.

Rebirth Island

The infamous prison island returns during Season 01’s playlist with Resurgence Modes, enhanced by Omnimovement, Black Ops 6 weaponry, and Killstreaks for added tactical intensity.

Map Adjustments

Urzikstan, Rebirth Island

  • Vehicles
    • All new vehicles with improved handling, detailed further below.
    • Brand new dirtbike for quick rotation.
  • Loot
    • All new Black Ops 6 ground loot including weapons and equipment.
  • Visuals
    • Lighting and visual improvements to the map with Black Ops 6 technology.
  • Sound
    • Audio improvements to in-game sound effects including footsteps balance tuning.

Rebirth Island

  • Submarine
    • The Submarine POI introduced earlier this year now appears 100% of the time.
  • Redeploy Drones
    • Increased Redeploy Drone count and spawn rate for balancing later circles.
  • Biometric Scanner & Weapon Trade Station
    • Rewards for the Biometric Scanner and Weapon Trade Station have been rebalanced and updated to Black Ops 6 loot.

MODES

Returning Modes

Battle Royale

This mode offers the classic Warzone experience, centered around high-risk, high-reward gameplay. You and your squad have only but a few attempts to survive – and the match concludes with one ultimate winner.

• Player Count: 120 (Solos, Duos, Trios, Quads)

• Map: Urzikstan

Resurgence

This mode offers a bit more forgiveness and a whole lot more action. As long as one squad member remains alive, others can redeploy after a countdown. However, once the resurgence window expires, free redeployment is no longer possible for the remainder of the game.

• Player Count: 44 (Solos, Duos, Quads), 45 (Trios)

• Map: Area 99, Rebirth Island

Plunder

This mode is a squad-based mode where accumulating Cash is the main objective. The squad that gathers the most Cash by the end of a timed period – extended into overtime once a squad reaches $2 million – claims victory. Cash can be earned by eliminating players and collecting their valuables, searching ground loot and Supply Boxes, and completing Contracts and in-game events. Operators can start with a custom Loadout and redeploy after each elimination throughout the entire match.

• Player Count: 120

• Map: Urzikstan

Bootcamp

This mode is a Quads-only training mode, allowing players to experience Warzone with up to 20 players and 24 bots. XP progression is limited, and the mode does not contribute to Daily/Weekly Challenges or include public events or advanced contracts.

• Player Count: 44

• Map: Urzikstan

Mode Adjustments

  • Resurgence
    • Players will receive an additional 25% discount in the Buy Station on “Redeploy Squadmate” while the Resurgence timer is still active.

PLAYLIST

Additional Note: To celebrate the new Area 99 map, it is the exclusive Resurgence map during the first weekend of launch, with Rebirth Island then returning to the playlist.

For information about upcoming Playlists, please check out the dedicated Warzone Trello Board.

RANKED PLAY

An all-new Ranked Play experience will come to Battle Royale on Urzikstan for the first time with Season 01 Reloaded. Keep an eye open for more intel later this year.

GENERAL

  • Carry-Forward
    • Weapons, blueprints, operators and skins, and vast majority of the cosmetics from Modern Warfare II and III will be available to players in the Black Ops 6 era of Warzone.
  • AFK Detection
    • We have updated the detection logic to determine if a player is AFK during an active match.
  • Leaderboards
    • To accommodate and track the new statistics coming with the Black Ops 6 integration, the Warzone Leaderboard stats will be reset at launch.

ARMORY

The Black Ops 6 Armory (BETA) is a repository that provides access to previously missed Loadout content from prior titles including Modern Warfare II and III. Players can look for and activate an item in the Armory to start earning XP toward unlocking it.

The Armory is unlocked at Player Level 24 and is added to the Level Unlock Menu. This menu serves as a platform to browse items that otherwise cannot be earned through normal weapon progression.

Please note that certain legacy attachments will be missing from the armory at the launch of Season 01. New players seeking to unlock these items can do so by playing the respective legacy title until they are implemented in Black Ops 6 in a future update. Players that have already unlocked this content in previous games are not impacted.

PROGRESSION

Season 01 introduces an extensive progression and Prestige system, with 55 levels of unlocks, 10 Prestige levels, and a final Prestige Mastery tier with 1,000 additional levels. Players unlock weapons, equipment, killstreaks, and perks through progression, with exclusive Calling Cards, animated “Dark Ops” cards, and 10 reticle unlocks per optic. Weapon camos include 9 Military Camos per weapon, 2 Special Camos sharable across modes, and 4 Mastery Camos, including animated designs like Gold Tiger and Abyss. Some rewards are exclusive to Black Ops 6 but can be earned retroactively.

For a deep dive on Progression in Call of Duty Black Ops 6, check out the dedicated blog here.

CAMOS

Weapon Mastery Camos NEW

The Weapon Camo grind has been overhauled in Black Ops 6 and is bigger than ever. You’ll be progressing through Camos on the quest to earn the first ever Call of Duty: Warzone Mastery Camo: Abyss (Season 01).

For a more detailed look at Progression in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Warzone, check out the Launch Comms: Progression Systems blog here.

COMBAT

New Combat

  • Body Shield
    • Sneak up behind an unsuspecting enemy and double-tap the melee button to pull them close as your personal shield against incoming fire.
    • Once they’ve served their purpose, gracefully deliver the coup de grâce.
    • Body Shield is the spiritual successor to the previous Interrogation mechanic.
  • Dedicated Melee Weapon
    • All player loadouts will have a dedicated melee weapon by default, in addition to their primary and secondary weapon slots.
    • Players can swap to their dedicated melee weapon by holding down the melee button.
    • Players holding a melee weapon will benefit from unlimited tac sprint.
  • Shootable Doors
    • Doors can now be shot open allowing for new tactics and strategy.

Combat Adjustments

  • Primary Weapon
    • The Loadout inventory is returning to the classic Warzone experience where players can only equip one Primary weapon.
    • There is a Wildcard detailed further below that allows for two Primary weapons to be equipped.
  • Self-Revive Auto Pickup
    • While downed, players will now be able to automatically loot Self-Revive kits that are within close proximity.
  • Live Ping Duration
    • The duration of live pings has been reduced from 3 seconds to 2 in order to bring more balance to a combat engagement.
  • Armor Plate Replacement Speed
    • The speed at which players can replace broken or missing armor plates has been increased by 8% to match the fluidity of Black Ops 6 Omnimovement.
  • Abandon Timer
    • The time players must wait to give up has been reduced from 5 seconds to 4 seconds due to the previous Interrogation mechanic being replaced.
  • Deaths Door
    • The health at which players will enter the death’s door state has been reduced from 50% to 35%.
    • The health at which the death’s door state will end has been reduced from 70% to 55%.
    • This change is due to us wanting to enable Players to better hear and see their surroundings when under threat by an enemy.

MOVEMENT

New Movement

  • Omnimovement
    • The movement and combat innovations from Black Ops 6 are fully integrated into Warzone. This allows players to Sprint, Slide, and Dive in any direction, perform 180-degree Combat Dives, and execute advanced moves like the Combat Supine and Omni-Sprint for dynamic tactical play.
  • Combat Supine
    • Drop to a prone position, then rotate your Operator for a complete 360-degree view of your surroundings. Then fire to eliminate the enemy quickly as they appear, all the while staying in the supine position.
  • Intelligent Movement
    • Players can now customize elements of how they traverse landscape and navigate combat.
    • Available in the Keyboard & Mouse or Controller Options under “Movement,” players will find the following features:
      • Sprint Assist: Choose whether to manually or automatically sprint, tactically sprint, how much of a delay before sprinting begins, and if the assist occurs while sprinting sideways or backwards.
      • Mantle Assist: Customize how and when to automatically mantle over obstacles.
      • Crouch Assist: This enables crouching and sliding when the intent is to move through a valid opening.
      • Corner Slice: Allows the act of inclining weapons (and camera) when adjacent to or moving around a corner. This doesn’t affect aim. Default is “on.”
  • Unlimited Tac Sprint
    • Players will have access to unlimited tac sprint via the Sprinter Perk or by holding their dedicated melee weapon.
  • Mantle Protection
    • Players will now climb onto thin or high ledges rather than over them to prevent untimely deaths.

Movement Adjustments

  • Tac Sprint Duration
    • We heard feedback around default tac sprint duration, so it has been increased from 2 seconds to 4 seconds.
  • Landing Tuning
    • The duration of the shock effect when falling from a near-death height has been reduced to 2.1 seconds from 3 seconds.
    • The minimum fall damage required before the shock effect from landing is now 55%, up from 50% allowing for slightly higher jumps with less punishment.
    • This change is made to better enable the movement opportunities that the Black Ops 6 integration allows.
  • Vertical Ascenders & Horizontal Zipline Improvements Quality of Life
    • Interacting with the Ascenders and Ziplines lines has been improved, making it easier to attach to the line from an angle or while free falling to increase fluidity.
  • Redeploy Drones
    • Redeploy Drones are fixed in place for the duration of a match.
    • Once a Redeploy Drone has been consumed by the gas, it will leave the map rather than relocating to give a more consistent experience.

INVENTORY

  • Streamlined Inventory
    • At the start of Season 01, we’re streamlining the inventory system by removing the “Backpack” and returning to a classic inventory layout, organized by sections for cash, gas mask, armor plates, killstreaks, field upgrades, weapons, ammo and perks.

PERKS

Perks in Warzone are now streamlined, allowing players to choose three Perks (one from each color-coded slot) in the Loadouts Menu. Most Pick-3 Perks unlock as you level up but re-lock upon Prestiging. Black Ops 6 player levels carry over to Warzone, unlocking corresponding Perks.

General

  • Lootable Perks
    • Lootable Perks return! Each season, players will encounter a number of perks via Ground Loot and Supply Boxes. These perk effects stack on top of the original Pick-3 Perks players have selected in their loadout.
    • When a player is eliminated, their Pick-3 Perks will drop on the ground as a “Custom Perk Pack” to be recovered or stolen by another player, while any looted perks will disappear.
    • The Lootable Perks players can find include a mix of perks from the 18 possible Pick-3 Perks, in addition to two perks that are unique to ground loot;
      • Shrouded
      • Irradiated
    • Players will recognize their Pick-3 Perks when they are equipped in the bottom right of the HUD, while lootable perks can be viewed in the Inventory.
  • Specialist Perk Package
    • Found as a rare loot drop or Care Package reward, Specialist grants every Perk including all 18 Pick-3 Perks, as well as both Ground Loot exclusive Perks – Irradiated and Shrouded.
    • If you’re eliminated, the Specialist Perk package will disappear.
    • Can be acquired in Buy Stations in limited quantities for $30,000.
  • Pre-Match Perks Quality of Life
    • Perks can now be edited in the pre-match lobby.

Available Perks

Slot 1Veteran

  • Reduce the negative effects of some enemy equipment.
    • Immunity to Grenadier.
    • Immunity to Snapshots.
    • Resistant to Flash, Gas, Movement, and Shock negative effects.
  • While aiming down sights reduce flinching and extend Hold Breath duration.
  • Unlocked via Season 01 – The Hit List Event Reward

Grenadier

  • Explosive damage slows enemy health regeneration and movement speed.
  • Throw equipment farther and see a previous of the trajectory.
  • Throw distance reduced to 15% from 25%.
  • Increased the delay for enemy health to regen to 10 seconds from 5 seconds.
  • Unlocked at player level 1

Dexterity

  • Reduced weapon motion while jumping, sliding, and diving.
  • Take less fall damage.
  • Unlocked at player level 20

Scavenger

  • Start equipped with maximum reserve ammo for your primary weapon.
    • Extra ammunition from Loadout acquisition only.
  • Resupply ammo, equipment, plates, and extra cash from dead enemies.
  • Unlocked at player level 26

Survivor

  • Start regenerating health more quickly.
    • Health regen begins after 3 seconds.
  • Your allies revive you faster when you’re downed.
  • The passive ability to ping enemies that down you has been moved to Tracker.
  • Removed reviving allies faster.
  • Removed the death tax reduction.
  • Unlocked at player level 47

Slot 2Quartermaster

  • Recharge equipment over time (50 seconds).
  • Unlocked at player level 1

Bomb Squad

  • Reduces incoming explosive and fire damage.
    • Does not reduce Killstreaks damage.
  • Spot enemy equipment and Killstreaks through walls.
    • Can hack enemy equipment.
    • ADS to highlight equipment for your squad.
  • Unlocked at player level 8

Tracker

  • Track enemy footsteps, bullets you fire briefly mark an enemy on contact for you and your squad.
    • Hitting the enemy from farther away increases the time they are marked.
  • Enemies that down you are automatically pinged.
  • Unlocked at player level 29

Sprinter

  • Can Tactical Sprint indefinitely.
  • Unlocked at player level 32

Cold-Blooded

  • Undetectable by AI targeting and thermal optics.
  • Prevents some enemy recon Perks and effects.
    • Immunity to EMP and Scrambling.
    • Immunity to Tracker.
    • Will not trigger Alertness.
  • Unlocked at player level 41

Quick Fix

  • Killing enemies or inserting armor plates immediately starts health regeneration.
    • Health regeneration triggers on gun, melee, and throwing knife kills.
  • Players can now insert amor plates one-handed enabling them to still hold onto a weapon and hip fire.
  • Unlocked at player level 50

Slot 3Gung-Ho

  • Reduced movement penalties when reloading or using equipment.
  • Reload while Tac Sprinting.
  • Unlocked at player level 1

Resolute

  • Taking damage from gunfire provides a boost to movement speed for a short duration.
    • 15% movement speed bonus, an increase from 5%.
  • Unlocked at player level 5

Ghost

  • Undetectable by enemy Radar Pings while moving.
  • Cannot be detected by some devices.
    • Immunity to Heartbeat Sensor and Proxy Alarm.
  • Unlocked at player level 17

Birdseye

  • UAVs you call in are 25% larger and show the heading of the enemy for your squad.
    • Increase applies to UAV Killstreaks, UAV Towers, and Portable Radar.
  • Detects players who have the Ghost effect.
    • Players with Ghost do not show a heading.
  • Will no longer increase sweep speed or duration of UAVs.
  • Unlocked at player level 23

Tempered

  • Refill armor plates to full with two plates instead of three.
  • Unlocked at player level 35

Alertness

  • Sense when enemies are nearby with on-screen information.
    • Sense at a 30m radius.
  • Your vision pulses when you are being aimed at by the enemy.
  • Unlocked at player level 44

Lootable PerksShrouded

  • Drop a Smoke Grenade when entering the downed state.
  • Available via ground loot

Irradiated

  • While under the effects of the gas circle or equipment you will move faster, take reduced gas damage, and can insert armor plates.
  • Available via ground loot

WILDCARDS

First introduced in Black Ops Cold War, Wildcards come to Warzone with 4 options that act as special, single-use perks for each loadout. These loadout modifiers allow players to equip more gear, weapons, or attachments, adding unique customization and variety to gameplay.

Available Wildcards

Bandolier

– Your loadout provides a Munitions Satchel.

– This Wildcard is only available in Warzone.

– Unlocked at player level 15

Overkill

– Equip two Primary or Secondary weapons.

– Unlocked at player level 24

Gunfighter

– Get 3 extra attachment points for your Primary weapon.

– This only applies to Black Ops 6 weapons.

– Unlocked at player level 33

Battle Ready

– Your loadout provides a UAV and Utility Box.

– This Wildcard is only available in Warzone.

– Unlocked at player level 38

SATCHELS

Satchels are new loot items that expand storage for inventory slots, allowing players to carry more of an item type and improve efficiency. Each Satchel type can be equipped simultaneously and are dropped upon elimination.

Available Satchels

Armor Satchel

– This substantially increases your Armor Plate carrying capacity from 6 to 12.

Munitions Satchel

– This increases the Ammunition capacity for all weapon types.

– Increases Equipment capacity by 2 to 4.

EQUIPMENT

Warzone continues to provide an extensive selection of lethal and tactical equipment, allowing players a range of options to suit their combat style. With the release of Black Ops 6, players can explore new additions to the equipment lineup, some of which we suspect may become fan favorites. We’ve also made several visual and balance adjustments to classic equipment, ensuring a diverse arsenal to choose from.

Available Equipment

Lethal EquipmentFrag Grenade

  • Cookable fragmentation grenade.
  • Unlocked at player level 1

NEWSpring Mine

  • Proximity-triggered explosive that launches in the air and deals heavy damage to the surrounding area.
  • Unlocked at player level 1

Semtex

  • Reliable sticky grenade with a timed fuse.
  • Unlocked at player level 9

C4

  • Sticky explosive with large damage radius.
  • Unlocked at player level 14

Thermo Grenade

  • Creates a large fuel-air cloud that explodes after a duration.
  • Updated to the Black Ops 6 version of the Thermobaric.
  • Unlocked at player level 21

NEWImpact Grenade

  • Precision grenade that explodes on impact.
  • Unlocked at player level 26

Molotov Cocktail

  • Thrown incendiary weapon that creates a patch of flames.
  • Unlocked at player level 32

Throwing Knife

  • Retrievable knife that is lethal on impact to unarmored targets or the head.
  • Unlocked at player level 36

NEWBlast Trap

  • Planted explosive device that detonates when enemies come near.
  • Unlocked at player level 41

Drill Charge

  • Explosive charge that burrows into a surface and explodes, damaging enemies on the other side.
  • Unlocked at player level 50

NEWCombat Axe

  • Retrievable axe that is lethal on impact to unarmored targets and bounces off surfaces.
  • Unlocked at player level 53

Tactical EquipmentNEWProx Alarm

  • Thrown sticky alarm that rings and flashes when an enemy is nearby. Tripped alarms show on allied minimaps.
  • The alarm will outline enemies within the tripped area. This cannot be seen through walls.
  • Available via ground loot

Concussion

  • Grenade that slows enemy movement and aiming.
  • Unlocked at player level 1

Flashbang

  • Grenade that blinds enemies for a duration.
  • Unlocked at player level 6

Snapshot Grenade

  • Provides a momentary glimpse of enemies within the blast radius for your squad.
  • Unlocked at player level 11

NEWSpy Camera

  • Quickly mark enemies and hostile Equipment for your team.
  • Unlocked at player level 12

Smoke Grenade

  • Deploys a smoke screen that blocks vision and automated targeting systems.
  • Unlocked at player level 17

Experimental Gas

  • Grenade that releases a lingering cloud of gas that causes slowed movement, blurred vision, coughing, and light damage.
  • Unlocked at player level 27

Stim Shot

  • Combat stim that heals wounds, provides an immediate burst of movement speed, and refreshes tac sprint.
  • Unlocked at player level 30

Decoy Grenade

  • Grenade that simulates footsteps and gunfire to confuse enemies. Sticks to surfaces.
  • Unlocked at player level 35

Shock Charge

  • Electrical trap that sticks to surfaces and electrocutes enemies, stunning them.
  • Unlocked at player level 42

NEWNeurogas Mine

  • Deployed trap which emits a neurotoxic gas cloud, causing severe hallucinations, disorienting, and damaging enemies.
  • Unlocked at player level 48

Equipment Adjustments

With the Black Ops 6 integration, we have adjusted a number of the Lethal and Tactical equipment to offer a new and fresh arsenal of choices.

  • Maximum Deployed Equipment
    • The maximum number of lethal and tactical equipment that can be planted at the same time has been increased to 3 up from 2.
    • We aligned Warzone with the changes to Multiplayer. This enables some of the new traps to be better utilized and function better with other adjustments like the Munitions Vest and Bomb Squad.
  • Frag
    • Outer damage decreased to 65 from 110.
    • Middle damage increased to 170 from 155.
    • Inner damage decreased to 260 from 275.
    • Frag Cooking Indicator Quality of Life
      • Players will now notice a UI indicator to better determine the time remaining until a frag detonates.
  • Semtex
    • Explosion radius decreased to 5m from 6.5m.
    • Outer damage decreased to 45 from 110.
    • Inner damage decreased to 180 from 200.
  • Throwing Knife
    • Damage decreased to 180 from 200.
  • Drill Charge
    • Outer damage decreased to 39 from 110.
  • Molotov
    • Burn stage damage was reduced to 10,15,25 from 15, 25, 30.
  • Smoke
    • VFX updated to be at parity with Black Ops 6.
  • Experimental Gas
    • Will now deal 10 damage per tick.
  • Snapshot Grenade
    • Radius increased to 15m from 10m.
    • Will now put a mark over a successfully “snapped” target which lasts for 5 seconds.

KILLSTREAKS

Killstreaks in Warzone, much like Multiplayer’s Scorestreaks, are game-changing tools that players can find via ground loot, Supply Boxes, or as rewards from contracts and events. Many of these Killstreaks are lethal, unleashing devastating airstrikes and explosions that can decimate enemy squads from above. Others are tactical, offering valuable intel on enemy positions or on ideal positioning for upcoming fights. With Black Ops 6, a few new Killstreaks have been introduced designed to give players a real advantage in the heat of battle.

Available Killstreaks

KillstreaksNEWCare Package

  • Call in a care package that will provide several random items including killstreaks, legendary or greater weapons, lootable perks, and field upgrades.

NEWNapalm Strike

  • Launch a targeted carpet bomb strike of explosive napalm.

NEWSAM Turret

  • An automated turret that scans for and attacks enemy aerial vehicles within range.

NEWSentry Turret

  • Automated turret that scans for and attacks nearby enemies in a forward-facing cone.

UAV

  • UAV recon that reveals enemy locations in a large area.

Advanced UAV

  • An advanced version of the UAV that reveals the enemies across the entire map.

Bunker Buster

  • Designate a missile strike that pierces a building, detonating on impact and deploying gas several stories downward.

Cluster Strike

  • Launch a missile bombardment in a targeted area for a duration.

Counter UAV

  • Launch a drone that scrambles enemy mini maps.

Foresight

  • Shows all future Gas circles on the map.

Precision Airstrike

  • Call in twin jets for a precision strike along the best available path.

Supply UAV

  • Radar sweeps that show Supply Box locations on the map.

Killstreak Adjustments

  • Bunker Buster
    • The trophy system will now counter the bunker buster.

FIELD UPGRADES

Available Field Upgrades

Field UpgradesNEWScrambler

  • Creates an area that disrupts enemy equipment, field upgrades, killstreaks, and minimaps.

NEWWar Cry

  • Rally your team, improving nearby allies’ movement speed and health regen speed for a duration.

NEWArmor Box

  • Drop a box of armor for you and your squad.

NEWMunitions Box

  • Drop a box of ammo and equipment for you and your teammates.

Decontamination Station

  • Deployable autonomous neutralizing agent that disperses the toxic gas cloud to enable breathing in it. Lasts for a limited time and is very fragile.

Deployable Buy Station

  • Marks a location and calls in a Deployable Buy Station by drone.
  • The drone can be shot down as it flies in, enabling you to change the drop location.

Deployable Cover

  • Portable, rapidly deployable ballistic cover.

Heartbeat Sensor

  • A limited use tablet that displays rough information about nearby enemies.

Loadout Drop

  • Marks a location and deploys a Loadout Drop Crate, allowing your team to pick-up their loadout, including weapons, perks, lethals and tacticals.

Portable Radar

  • Emits a periodic radar ping to detect nearby enemies.

Portable Redeploy Drone

  • A portable drone used for fast repositioning.

Recon Drone

  • Player controlled drone that can be parked. Targets in the reticle of the drone for a time will be marked for the squad.

Redeploy Drone Beacon

  • A compact redeployment system for fast team repositioning.

Reinforcement Flare

  • Flare gun that brings a squad mate back.

Trophy System

  • Deployable autonomous defense system that destroys up to three nearby pieces of equipment and projectiles.

Utility Box

  • Deploy a box of ammo, equipment, and armor plates for you and your teammates.

Field Upgrade Adjustments

  • Heartbeat Sensor
    • The warning display now highlights in red when enemies are within 15 meters, up from 7.
    • The time between pings has been reduced to 1.5 seconds, down from 2.5 seconds.
  • Munitions Box
    • The munitions crate now grants 3 clips of every ammo type, rather than only refilling your primary and secondary weapon ammo types.
    • With this change players are enabled to make pivots in their weapon choices. A focus on breadth rather than depth of ammo.
  • Portable Radar
    • The duration of the portable radar pulse has been increased from 25 seconds to 30.
  • Personal Redeploy Drone
    • Deploys 50% faster.
    • No longer prohibits firing while in use.
    • Standardized height across the different maps.
  • Reinforcement Flare
    • 30% faster to use.
  • Trophy System
    • Counter charges increased from 3 to 5.

WEAPONS

Introduction

We’ve expanded the Warzone arsenal to include weapons from the launch of Black Ops 6 in October 2024, giving players even more options to customize their loadouts. Dive into Warzone with these powerful additions, now available alongside fan favorites from previous titles.

At launch, Black Ops 6 weapons in Warzone will share similar values to their Multiplayer counterparts such as ADS speed, sprint to fire, and recoil. However, damage profiles for a number of weapons have been modified to establish a baseline for Warzone. We encourage new and returning players to study their favorite weapon’s details in the Gunsmith.

With the integration of Black Ops 6, we also now have new tuning options for weapons that weren’t previously available, allowing us to adjust aspects like handling (ADS speed and sprint to fire), magazine sizes, recoil, and more. For instance, while the AS VAL has a default magazine size of 20 in Multiplayer, we’ve set it to 30 for Warzone.

Our goal is to make weapon adjustments faster to keep the available selection dynamic and engaging, without making any weapons feel obsolete. With these new tuning options, we aim to refine each weapon’s identity and role specific to their use in Warzone, such as emphasizing Assault Rifles as strong long-range options.

Additionally, all bolt-action snipers and pump-action shotguns (while aiming down sights) from Modern Warfare II, Modern Warfare III, and Black Ops 6 will have a one-shot headshot potential within their respective max damage ranges. Additionally, in order to incentivize intentional aim, all shotguns will fire 5 pellets while ADSing versus 4 when fired from the hip.

We want players to feel that weapons from Modern Warfare II and Modern Warfare III continue to remain solid, viable choices in Warzone. Our goal is to create a unified combat system that makes each gun enjoyable to use, regardless of its origin. We’ll continue to improve legacy weapons and attachments throughout the coming year to further support this vision.

Black Ops 6 Weapons

Black Ops 6 weapons have a unique Warzone damage profile, which includes specific base damage, range, and location-based modifiers.

We’ve adjusted several Black Ops 6 attachments to function differently in Warzone:

  • CHF Barrel
    • For Assault Rifles, LMGs, DMRs, SMGs, and Pistols: This now grants an increased neck multiplier rather than a head multiplier.
    • For Sniper Rifles and Shotguns: This now provides increased leg modifiers instead of arm modifiers.
  • Flip Magazine
    • The magazine capacity penalty from Multiplayer has been removed. In Warzone, flip mags match the base weapon’s ammo capacity.
  • Rapid Fire
    • This attachment now applies a base damage penalty in Warzone, along with greater penalties to bullet velocity and range.

Modern Warfare II & III Weapons

A visual recoil reduction pass has been applied to Modern Warfare II weapons, enhancing their feel and control while shooting.

Barrel and stock attachments from Modern Warfare II have also had their penalties reduced. Additionally, a significant balancing pass has been completed for underbarrel and muzzle attachments from both Modern Warfare II and III. All cons have been removed from these attachments, meaning they now only provide stat boosts, with each subcategory of underbarrels and muzzles functioning identically except for cosmetic differences. AMP attachments in these slots, however, retain their unique functionality and balancing.

  • Muzzle Enhancements
    • Suppressors: Boost velocity and damage range.
    • Comps: Improve recoil control.
    • Flash Hiders: Increase damage range and firing aim stability.
    • Breacher: Enhance melee damage and recoil control.
  • Underbarrel Enhancements
    • Angled Grip: Increases hipfire and tacstance accuracy and aim walking steadiness.
    • Handstop: Improves sprint-to-fire and ADS speed.
    • Vert Grip: Enhances recoil control and firing aim stability.

Furthermore, Modern Warfare II and III weapons now have corner-slicing functionality, adding an extra tactical edge.

Global Weapon Builds

Seamlessly access a custom weapon build you’ve created across Black Ops 6 Multiplayer, Zombies, and Warzone. This time-saving feature lets you adjust any Build or Blueprint in one game, with changes automatically applied wherever that weapon is equipped. To create a build, select a base weapon or Blueprint, add attachments and cosmetics in the Gunsmith, and return to the Custom Loadout screen to save it. The build, with all selected customizations, will then appear in other modes under the same weapon type.

New Weapons

These weapons are new to Season 01 and were not part of the original launch of Black Ops 6 Multiplayer in October 2024.

  • Krig C Assault Rifle
    • Full-auto assault rifle. High damage and average handling. Recoil pattern starts very controllable before ramping up.
    • Unlockable via Battle Pass Page 3 HVT Tier Reward OR Page 14 Battle Pass Blueprint
  • SAUG Submachine Gun
    • Fully automatic submachine gun. Excellent mobility and good handling. Great rate of fire. High recoil.
    • Unlockable via Battle Pass Page 3 HVT Tier Reward OR Page 11 Battle Pass Blueprint
  • Sirin 9mm Special Weapon (In-Season)
    • Fully automatic specialty weapon. Offers SMG characteristics as a secondary weapon. Slow rate of fire.
    • Unlockable via Event Reward
  • Power Drill Melee Weapon (In-Season)
    • Two-hit kill. Very short range. Very fast attack speed.
    • Unlockable via Event Reward

New Attachments

These attachments are new to Season 01 and were not part of the original launch of Black Ops 6 in October 2024.

  • 12 Gauge Dragon’s Breath
    • Add some heat to your Shotgun blasts with incendiary rounds comprised of magnesium sparks that stick to and burn enemies over time. Equipping the 12 Gauge Dragon’s Breath Fire Mod prevents using Barrel Attachments, but the tradeoff is well worth it when seeking a fiery finish.
    • Compatible with Shotguns
    • Acquired via Battle Pass Page 7 Reward
  • Buffer Weight Stock (In-Season)
    • The heavier Buffer Weight Stock provides significantly smoother action through the additional resistance met by the bolt carrier group. The improvement results in more manageable recoil through sustained fire, ideal for staying on target though at the expense of ADS Speed and Aim Walk Movement Speed.
    • Compatible with XM4 Assault Rifle, XMG LMG, DM-10 Marksman Rifle
    • Acquired via Event Reward
  • Burst Fire Conversion (In-Season)
    • Convert the XM4 Assault Rifle’s primary firing mode into a three-round burst to help conserve ammo and stay on target. There’s an impressive lack of recoil too, so it’s still possible to pump out consistent damage when facing heavy threats.
    • Compatible with XM4 Assault Rifle
    • Acquired via Event Reward
  • Burst Fire Conversion (In-Season)
    • Convert the Kompakt 92 SMG’s primary firing mode into an exceptionally rapid three-round burst. Equipping the Burst Fire Conversion Fire Mod locks the Underbarrel and Barrel Attachment slots. When you need to fire quickly in close quarters, hold down the trigger to automatically cycle through burst shots.
    • Compatible with Kompakt 92 SMG
    • Acquired via Event Reward

Weapon Adjustments

The following weapon adjustments are strictly limited to Modern Warfare II and III weapons. It’s a lot.

Future patch notes for Black Ops 6 weapons will follow the table format introduced with the launch of Black Ops 6.

CLICK HERE TO SHOW/HIDE INFO

LOOT

  • Ground & Supply Box Loot
    • Added Black Ops 6 items including:
      • Weapons
      • Field Equipment: War Cry, Scrambler
      • Killstreaks: Napalm Strike, Sentry Gun, SAM Turret, Care Package
      • Lethals: Throwing Axe, Blast Trap, Impact Grenade, Spring Mine
      • Tacticals: Neurogas Mine, Prox Alarm, Spy Camera
      • Perks: Grenadier, Combat Tracker, Dexterity, Cold-Blooded, Irradiated, Shrouded
      • Satchels: Armor Satchel, Munitions Satchel
    • Removal of the following:
      • Killstreaks: Cluster Mine, Mosquito Drone, Guardian, Bomb Drone
      • Lethals: Proxy Mine, Claymore, Thermite, Breacher Drone
      • Tacticals: Tracker Grenade, Scatter Mine
      • Redeploy tokens
  • Loot Distribution
    • The loot distribution system will now create further space for larger items as they are dropped to the ground to avoid overlapping loot.
    • The loot distribution system will now purposely avoid dropping items near objects in close proximity such as Buy Stations.
  • Medical Cabinets Quality of Life
    • Loot that drops out of medical cabinets now drops within closer proximity of its origin.
  • Buy Stations
    • Buy Station inventory and prices have had slight adjustments with the Black Ops 6 integration.
  • Weapon Outlines Quality of Life
    • Weapons now have rarity outlines to help players better evaluate the options at their disposal throughout a match.

CONTRACTS

Available Contracts

Below is a summary of each contract type to help both new and returning players quickly grasp how each one functions with the integration of Black Ops 6. These summaries cover key objectives, mechanics, and rewards, making it easier for players to jump in and engage with contracts confidently.

Bounty

When you pick up a Bounty contract, a nearby player will be selected as your target. A circle will appear on your tac map, periodically updating to show the target’s location. The target will be somewhere within this circle each time it updates, and the circle gradually shrinks as you move closer. The target can also see an indicator on their HUD showing how close the closest player from your hunting team is; this is displayed as a three-level “threat indicator.” Completing the contract by killing the target rewards cash, XP, and a singular ping from the bounty target’s body. If another team kills the target, your contract ends with a “poached” outcome, offering a lesser reward. Allowing the timer to run out or losing your team will fail the contract.

Big Game Bounty

This contract works similarly to the base Bounty but with a few twists. It only spawns after Circle 2 closes and prioritizes teams with the highest cumulative kills, provided they’re not already bounty targets. If you complete this contract by eliminating the target, you’ll earn an immediate advanced UAV ping along with extra cash and XP, offering greater rewards than a standard Bounty.

Scavenger

Upon picking up a Scavenger contract, three scavenger caches will spawn near the pickup spot. You’ll be directed to each cache one at a time, with the next cache revealed only after you open the previous one. Opening a cache adds 45 seconds to the contract timer. These caches contain slightly better loot than usual, and each will drop a lootable perk. Opening the third and final cache completes the contract, rewarding your team with cash, XP, and an armor satchel from the last cache. Failing to open all caches before time runs out, or having your team wiped, will fail the contract.

Intel

When you accept an Intel contract, a nearby upload station will be marked for your team to upload sensitive intel. Reaching the station and interacting with it initiates an “upload” phase where one team member must remain near the station until the upload is complete. If multiple players are in this radius, the upload speed can increase by up to 200%. Completing the upload rewards cash, XP, and a peek at the next circle’s location. Failure occurs if the timer expires or if your team is wiped.

Most Wanted

By picking up the Most Wanted contract, you or the team member who picked it up becomes visible on the map for all players. Opponents who kill the Most Wanted target receive cash and XP, while the Most Wanted team can reduce their contract time by obtaining kills and opening loot caches (10-second reduction per cache, 25-second reduction per kill). If the Most Wanted target survives the full contract duration, the contract is completed, and the team earns cash, XP, and revives any dead squad members. Whether the contract ends in success or failure, a “VIP reward crate” appears near the VIP’s location, containing ammo, plates, a killstreak, a weapon, a Gulag token, and cash.

Signals Intelligence

This contract directs your team to hack nearby contracts for rewards. The nearest contract will be marked for hacking, although you can hack any contract. The number of contracts required depends on team size: solos and duos hack one, while trios and quads hack two. Hacking all required contracts completes the mission, rewarding your team with XP and ten periodic cash payments. Letting time run out or losing your team results in failure.

Spy Drone

This contract spawns multiple drones in a circle formation near your team. The number of drones varies with team size—solos face five, duos six, trios seven, and quads eight. Destroy all drones to complete the contract and earn cash, XP, a UAV, and redeploy drone beacon from the last drone. Failure results if time expires or your team is wiped out.

Elite Contracts

These are tougher versions of existing contracts, offering higher rewards. Elite Contracts reduce the contract time by 45% and reward an additional 1,500 cash on completion. Completing an Elite Contract also drops a reward crate with items, including an ammo pile, armor plate, ultra-rare weapon, and one of several rare items such as a UAV, redeploy drone beacon, deployable kiosk, or, with low probability, a Specialist or Foresight. Note that Most Wanted contracts cannot become Elite, although other contracts might turn Elite as the match progresses.

Contract Adjustments

  • Bounty
    • Completing the contract now includes finishing downed targets you didn’t down yourself.
    • Bounty contracts should no longer start without a valid target.
    • “Poached” end state now counts as a contract failure for challenge tracking.
  • Most Wanted
    • Removed the redeploy token from the Most Wanted reward crate in solos.
  • Scavenger
    • The primary reward in Battle Royale and Resurgence is now an armor plate carrier.

PUBLIC EVENTS

Battle Royale & Resurgence

  • Firesale
    • All items in the buy station are discounted at 50% for a limited time.
  • Restock
    • All Supply Boxes close and are refilled with items.
  • Jailbreak
    • All operators in gulag and eliminated operators are redeployed at the end of a timer.
  • Fly Buy
    • A series of drones drop a number of deployable buy stations across the warzone.
  • Recon Flyover
    • Avoid the detection of overhead drones to prevent your location from being broadcast.
  • Squad Loadout Drop
    • Loadout drops that are only accessible by their assigned team.

Battle Royale

  • Contested Loadout Drop
    • Limited number of loadout drops that are accessible by any team.
  • Cash Drop
    • A number of crates are dropped across the field that, when captured, drop a bounty of cash.
  • Contractor
    • All contracts pay out more when completed within a timer.
  • Rogue Signal
    • All teams compete on a random task — the top teams get access to a reward with exclusive loot.

Resurgence

  • Bounty Royale
    • All teams are automatically assigned a Bounty contract.
  • High Stakes
    • A number of crates are dropped across the warzone that, when captured, double the XP earn in the current match for the team while also drop high tier loot.

Plunder

  • Blood Money
    • For the duration of the event, operators that are eliminated drop significantly more money.
  • Attack Choppers
    • Once the match enters overtime, attack choppers enter the warzone. Take them down for a large payout.

Gulag

  • Locked & Loaded
    • Start the match with full armor and upgraded guns.
  • Go Again
    • Get another chance at gulag if you lose your fight.
  • Cash Drop
    • The ground loot is replaced with all cash.
  • Climb & Punishment
    • Ladder’s drop in the center of the Gulag. Choose to leave together or perhaps betrayal?

OPERATORS

New Operators

Warzone is now home to all of the operators that were introduced with the launch of Black Ops 6 in addition to a few newcomers introduced in Season 01.

  • Goliath
    • Solidify your fiery combat mastery as the molten man of fire himself, Goliath! All biographical information for this Operator has been redacted.
    • Acquirable via BlackCell Bundle
  • Sevati “Sev” Dumas
    • A main player in the Rogue Team after the conclusion of the Campaign, Sev is ready to make a deal with the untrustworthy French Syndicate and is gearing up to take down the rival Luttazzi family to prove it.
    • Acquirable via BlackCell Bundle
  • The Replacer
    • There’s no substitute for greatness. The Replacer has concluded his whirlwind Black Ops 6 takeover tour and has freed up some time to appear in-game, available as a Store Bundle shortly after Launch.
    • Acquirable via Store Bundle
  • Competitor CDL Home and Away Operators
    • Two new Operators arrive just in time for the 2025 Call of Duty League® season.
    • Acquirable via CDL Store Bundle

VEHICLES

All new vehicle physics tech leveraged from the Treyarch engine and Infinity Ward engine. Our goal is to bring more fun to driving with enhanced maneuverability and natural physics that is easy to use but can also be mastered. Towards this goal, we have removed flat tires, vehicle repairing and fuel.

In addition to the aforementioned changes, we’ve included a number of additional improvements listed below:

  • Updated models
  • Improved Natural Physics
  • Improved Camera
  • Procedural Character Leaning
  • Improved VFX – Vehicle lights, exhaust
  • Dynamic vehicle death and explosion reactions
  • New helicopter simulation and audio
  • Support for Aim-Based controls

FIRING RANGE

  • Damage Summary Quality of Life
    • The Firing Range now provides the total amount of damage done with the currently equipped gun.
  • Default Armor Plates Quality of Life
    • The firing range will default to 3 armor plates per target dummy.
  • Default Health Quality of Life
    • The firing range will default to 150 health per target dummy.
  • Default Perks Quality of Life
    • The firing range will now default to Warzone perk settings.
  • Reset Speed
    • The target dummies will now “respawn” or reset to their active position faster than before.
    • Removed the delay that prevented target dummies from receiving damage as soon as they reset.
  • Hit Locations Quality of Life
    • Target dummies will now have the same hit location modifiers as actual players to more accurately reflect damage dealt to opponents in a match.
  • Movable Target Dummy Quality of Life
    • A new target dummy is now available that can be moved to various damage ranges based on the currently equipped weapon.
    • The moveable dummy cycles between damage ranges as soon as it’s eliminated.
  • Target Collision
    • Target dummy collision has been improved so that bullets register more precisely.
  • Line-of-Sight Quality of Life
    • Removed vertical walls that previously broke aim assist when testing weapon strafing.

EMOTES & SPRAYS

Adding to the personalization of your Operators are the return of Emotes and Sprays (iconography you primarily daub on walls, either to tag them or to tactically flag a location for your teammates). Emotes are accessible anywhere you have control over your character.

EXFIL

  • Winner’s Circle
    • The winning squad in a match receives their own Winners’ Circle showcase, with some of their statistical competence on display for all to see. This is also a location where you can celebrate your prowess more individually by employing a favorite Emote, too!
  • End-of-Game Flow
    • The exfil sequence duration has been reduced with a larger focus on the winning squad.
    • Players can now swap between their own squad and the winning squad showing off accolades & player stats.
    • There is a new progression overview screen, focused on player choice experience.

UI/UX

The upcoming Season 01 update for Call of Duty: Warzone introduces a revamped, fully integrated user interface. The primary game tiles on the Home tab will feature Black Ops 6 and Warzone, allowing for instant access to gameplay. The Store and Battle Pass tabs will direct players to their respective sections in either Black Ops 6 or Warzone, depending on what is installed. Warzone will also get its own unique UI with enhancements similar to Black Ops 6.

  • Customize Menu
    • The customize menu now includes a legacy tab to equip your unlocked MWII and MWIII Calling Cards, Emblems, and Loading Screens.
  • Legacy Content Filtering
    • Similarly, brand new quick filtering for Black Ops 6 and other legacy titles helps filter content organized by game in the gunsmith, operator select, and barracks.
  • Tac Map Icon Layout
    • Cleaner Interface: We’ve streamlined the interface by hiding the icon prompts on the right side of the screen.
    • Reorganized Contracts: Contracts have been moved to the left side of the map for easier access and a more intuitive layout.
  • Minimap Type Quality of Life
    • Added the ability to change minimap type and compass type without impacting your Multiplayer settings.
  • Munitions Satchel Ammo Count Quality of Life
    • Added an icon next to your ammo count when a munitions satchel is equipped to indicate if your weapon has room to carry more ammo.
  • Classic Squad Widget
    • We brought back many elements from Warzone’s original release including equipment icons, the shape of armor plate icons and more.
  • Loot Cards
    • Loot cards have been updated with overall layout treatment for improved visuals.
  • Squad Wipe Kill Feed
    • The messaging that appears in the kill feed when a squad is wiped has been updated as follows:
      • Battle Royale: the message will now display “Sent to Gulag” if the defeated team has one or more members going to the Gulag.
      • Plunder: the message has now been reworded to “Squad Repositioning”.
  • Kill Feed Calling Cards
    • Eliminating an enemy player now displays their calling card in the bottom center of the UI.
  • Aim Assist Settings
    • Numerous aim assist settings have been changed including but not limited to the addition of:
      • Minimum aim assist distance
      • Max turn clamp speed
  • Loot Ping Distance
    • Loot can no longer be pinged from more than 40 meters away for improved legibility during combat.
  • Live Ping Visibility Quality of Life
    • Live Pings and Danger Pings have received position and scaling adjustments to prevent blocking or covering enemies upper bodies.
  • In-Game Splash Frequency Quality of Life
    • We have reduced the overall clutter of in-game splashes by reducing frequency and associated noise.
  • Weapon Attachment HUD Quality of Life
    • The weapon attachments show on the HUD with a blue color for better visibility and clarity on which part of the weapon has an attachment attached.
  • Playlist Navigation
    • The menu for playlists have been improved – it now includes a vertical list with sub menus for each squad size and a map preview window for a complimentary view of maps offered for each game mode.
  • Buy Station Redeploy Ping Quality of Life
    • An eliminated Player who pings a Buy Station for a Redeploy, will show a unique Redeploy icon on the Buy Station to better inform their Squad of the buy-back request.

AUDIO

  • Enhanced Headphone Mode
    • We’re excited to introduce our best-in-class audio experience to Warzone with the introduction of HRTF (Head-Related Transfer Function) via Universal Profile in Enhanced Headphone Mode, which is available to all players for free.
  • Armor Plate Break Audio
    • New audio has been added to indicate that armor plates have been destroyed.
  • Proximity Chat
    • Proximity chat radius has been reduced from 55 meters to 45.
  • Stacking Hit Markers & Sound Effects Quality of Life
    • Enables displaying both a wall bang, hitting a player in water and pairing of new audio per marker.
  • Bounty Contract Sound Cues Quality of Life
    • Added sound cues for when the bounty threat level increases or decreases.

Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.

Be sure to give him a follow on Twitter @MikeCripe.

Warcraft 30th Anniversary Direct: Everything Announced

Blizzard just wrapped up its Warcraft 30th Anniversary Direct, a nearly hour-long presentation featuring numerous updates from across the Warcraft franchise – almost like a miniature BlizzCon. We heard about World of Warcraft’s next major update, a tease for its next expansion, new updates for World of Warcraft Classic, some long-awaited remasters, and planned updates for both Hearthstone and Warcraft Rumble.

If you missed the Direct, don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Here’s everything Blizzard showed at its Warcraft 30th Anniversary Direct today:

World of Warcraft: The War Within next major update unveiled

First up, retail World of Warcraft, which is currently near the end of the first major story beat of the expansion The War Within. Today, we got a look at the first major patch of the expansion, entitled “Undermine(d)”, which will take players into the underground goblin capital of Undermine for the first time ever.

The patch, which is planned for early next year, will include a new customizable vehicle, new story, a new arena map, a new dungeon, two new delves, a new raid, and a number of other updates. You can read more about everything planned for 11.1, Undermine(d), right here.

World of Warcraft: Midnight will feature player housing at last

At the very end of the presentation, Blizzard gave us a surprising “one more thing” tease of its next planned expansion: Midnight. Though Midnight is still a long ways away, today we learned that it will include a long-requested feature: player housing. No details were provided on this in today’s presentation, but we’re expecting to hear more late next summer when Blizzard fully unveils Midnight to the world.

World of Warcraft: Classic is headed to Pandaria

As expected, World of Warcraft Classic continues apace through the expansions, with Blizzard announcing that it will be moving to Mists of Pandaria in 2025. But for those who might be frustrated with Classic seemingly racing to catch up with retail through World of Warcraft’s expansion history, Blizzard is also dropping new “vanilla” Classic realms on November 21. The realms will include fresh PvE, PvP, and Hardcore servers, all of which will slowly progress through Classic’s cadence of updates, with the Molten Core raid opening a few weeks after their launch. In addition, the PvE and PvP realms (sorry, Hardcore) will eventually move into The Burning Crusade Classic, starting the expansion progression all over again.

Warcraft I and II are being remastered

To kick off today’s presentation, Blizzard announced it would be shadow-dropping remasters of both Warcraft I and II today. They’re remasters, not remakes, and will include fully remastered graphics as well as a number of quality of life features. Warcraft II specifically will include multiplayer, and all legacy custom maps will be compatible and playable.

In addition, Blizzard is releasing a new patch for Warcraft III: Reforged that includes a graphics overhaul and various other quality of life changes that will hopefully improve the experience. And all three games will be available as part of a Battle Chest, with flexible pricing based on which games you already have in your library.

Hearthstone is getting a crossover with…Starcraft?!

Over in the tavern, we got a look at Hearthstone’s upcoming roadmap for 2025. And Hearthstone is starting the new year with a crossover with another Blizzard property: Starcraft.

2025 will start with a mini set themed around StarCraft, featuring themes and powers unique to all three StarCraft factions: Protoss, Zerg, and Terran. This will be followed by the first 2025 expansion, themed around the Emerald Dream, followed by a return to Un’Goro Crater for The Shrouded City expansion. Hearthstone will wrap up the year in a time-themed expansion called The Heroes of Time, featuring everyone’s favorite time traveler, Chromie.

Warcraft Rumble is coming to PC

Warcraft Rumble will soon introduce new split faction leaders in a new update. These leaders belong to two families simultaneously, instead of just one. Newly-added split faction leaders will include Orgrim Doomhammer, Malfurion Stormrage, and Anub’arak, while other characters such as Sylvanas will gain a second faction in addition to their current one.

But most importantly, mobile game Warcraft Rumble is celebrating its first birthday by breaking free of the confines of our phones. Blizzard announced today that it’s coming to PC soon, with a beta launching on December 10th.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

World of Warcraft: Classic Heads to Mists of Pandaria Next Year

During today’s Warcraft 30th Anniversary Direct, Blizzard announced its next big plans for World of Warcraft: Classic. Shocking no one, it’s planning to move onto the next expansion in 2025: Mists of Pandaria.

As with other Classic expansions, Mists of Pandaria will launch with “some changes” to its original form, but will largely retain the same content and features from when it first released in 2012. Among other new features, Mists of Pandaria introduced the continent of Pandaria, the playable Pandaran race that could join either the Alliance or the Horde, the Monk class, pet battles, Scenarios, and flexible raiding.

Notably, though, this will be a different experience than the one offered during the recent Mists of Pandaria: Remix event, which allowed players to speed level through Pandaria with new spells and abilities, new items, and other twists on its original gameplay.

The addition of Mists of Pandaria furthers World of Warcraft: Classic’s steady march to catch up with existing World of Warcraft content. However, recently some Classic players have begun to criticize the direction of the game and lament how far away it’s gotten from the original Classic feel as expansions have been added. While Blizzard has done some things to address this, such as add new Classic modes like Hardcore and Season of Discovery, players are increasingly asking for more opportunities to replay the oldest content.

For those players, Blizzard announced that it will be adding new “vanilla” Classic realms on November 21. This will include new PvP, PvE, and new “hardcore mode” realms, which will go through the same steady cadence of patch updates as past Classic realms, with the Molten Core raid launching a few weeks after launch. These new realms (minus the Hardcore realms) will eventually progress to The Burning Crusade Classic, giving players the opportunity to start all over once more and progress through early WoW content.

World of Warcraft: Classic’s Mists of Pandaria update will launch sometime in 2025. You can catch up with everything announced from today’s Warcraft Direct right here, including remasters of Warcraft I and II, the next patch for The War Within, and teases of the next WoW retail expansion.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

The Pokémon Card Deals I Want to See for Black Friday

We all want to be the very best Pokémon TCG player and collector, like no was ever was. We also all know the value of a bargain on booster boxes, big box premium collections, elite trainer boxes, and more. Black Friday 2024 should be loaded with Pokédeals, making it the best time of year to invest in some sealed products to rip open or hold on to.

Pokémon Card Deal Predictions for Black Friday

Grading Pokémon cards is also becoming more popular than ever before. Trainers won’t find cards in better condition than being pack fresh, but opening packs rather than buying singles can rack up a Gollum of cash. I’m a Pokémon Master, and the following products are on my radar for Black Friday 2024. Let’s get into it:

Big Box Deals

Pokémon TCG collectors worldwide know how good premium collections and other big box deals can be. We’re talking booster packs for less, epic promos thrown in, and other goodies such as pins and card sleeves. I think Black Friday 2024 at retailers like Amazon and Walmart will be packed with all kinds of big box deals, and here are the ones I think will make the cut:

Pokémon Tin Deals

Tins are a great way to collect some cool promos with a handful of boosters from various sets, especially at their often lower pricepoint when compared to high-end premium collections. They’re also an epic way to store bulk, dice, Pokécoins, and more. Here are the tins I think will be making the Black Friday rounds this year:

Booster Bundles

Need to complete a set sooner rather than later? Booster bundles are the offordable way to get multiple boosters to rip open in one sitting. Yes, booster boxes are ideal for collectors, but they’re mostly touching or well above $100. Booster bundles have six boosters per box for just north of $20, with Black Friday bringing price points down further. Here’s what I’m betting on:

Pokémon TCG Elite Trainer Boxes

Next to full-on booster boxes, elite trainer boxes are one of the best Pokémon TCG products to grab on a Black Friday deal. Containing eight or nine boosters, depending on the retailer and set, trainers get everything they need to battle, including unique dice, sleeves, card dividers, and a pack of energies. The main draw for ETBs is the promo card bundled in – they’re super collectable. Here are the ETBs I won’t need to flip a coin on when Black Friday hits:

Pokémon TCG: Scarlet & Violet Stellar Crown Build & Battle

These stamped promo cards are usually distributed at pre-release events, but this is a chance for trainers to get ahold of one out of four from a new set. The box also contains four boosters and a 40-card readymade deck to battle opponents on the fly. This is one for promotional card collectors, so here are the ones I think will be showing up for Black Friday:

Pokémon Iono Premium Tournament Collection Box

Deck Box? Check! Sleeves? Check! Four foil supporter cards (one being full art) and everything you need for a Pokémon Card battle? Check! These themed tournament collection boxes are a trainer card fan boys dream and a cheap way to get some exclusive swag for your themed deck. Here’s what I’m expecting on Black Friday:

Booster Packs and Boxes

Here’s where the Pokémagic happens! A Black Friday Pokémon TCG deal isn’t much without booster packs. Single sleeved boosters are fine, but what about 36 packs for a bargain? There’s no better time to invest in your collection, so here’s what I have on the cards for Black Friday:

Amazon Prime Members Can Save 10% on PlayStation and Xbox Gift Cards Before Black Friday

Amazon Prime members can now take advantage of a 10% discount on gaming gift cards, including those for PlayStation and Xbox. The offer comes as retailers gear up for the Black Friday sales season, providing an opportunity for digital gamers to prepare for upcoming deals.

The promotion includes significant savings, such as $25 off a $250 PlayStation gift card and $10 off a $100 card. These discounts are particularly valuable for those planning to purchase digital games, downloadable content, or subscriptions during the holiday sales period.

Think about it this way: There’s a 100% certainty of digital games sales over the Black Friday period, and these gift card discounts mean you can save even more. Or you could actually gift them, if you want? There are also discounts on Fortnite V-Bucks, Xbox Game Pass Core, and Roblox Digital Gift Cards if you’re so inclined.

With Nintendo already revealing its Black Friday plans, similar announcements from PlayStation and Xbox are expected in the coming days. For now, these gift card offers provide a timely chance to save ahead of the main sales event. Not a Prime member? Consider taking out a 30-day free trial and cover yourself for the whole Black Friday sales season.

What About PS Plus and Xbox Game Pass?

Black Friday often delivers discounts on gaming memberships like Game Pass and PlayStation Plus, so the first tip is to be patient. Additionally, these digital gift cards can be used to purchase subscriptions, making them a handy option if digital deals on memberships are announced soon. Otherwise, there’s a pretty great deal on Xbox Game Pass UItimate at Woot right now if you’re keen to grab a deal today.

When Is Black Friday 2024?

The actual date of Black Friday in 2024 falls on November 29 this year, but the deals have already kicked off. Leading up to the big event, retailers have begun to open deals online. Each day leading up to the event will slowly roll out more deals, which ultimately leads to massive discounts on Black Friday. Retailers will not reveal their biggest Black Friday deals until the big day, but most general deals will be available well in advance, such as this excellent discount on gift cards.

Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Commerce Editor for IGN. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter.

Arcs Board Game Review

Space conquest games are ten a penny, including some of the best war board games around, like Twilight Imperium and Eclipse. But for all their glory, they tend to follow a formula known as 4X: explore, expand, exploit and exterminate. That means capturing resources, climbing up a tech tree and fighting your neighbors, with all the potential for turtling and table talk that that involves. Arcs, by innovative designer Cole Wehrle, looks very much like its genre peers, but it promises to be something different: a sci-fi subjugation game that puts strategy front and center, while weaving the inbuilt instability of growing empires into the mix.

What’s in the Box

For a genre that traditionally comes with a ton of plastic and cardboard, Arcs arrives in a disarmingly small box that’s packed to the brim with goodies. It features wooden pieces rather than plastic, but its single spaceship design cutouts and agent pieces still look great on your table. Your other units, cities and spaceports, are represented by cardboard triangles. It’s all functional, and thematically austere, and you won’t miss the plastic at all.

One reason why such relatively plain components look so good is the instantly-recognizable art style of Kyle Ferrin which adorns the pieces, cards and board. It initially appears sketchy and amateurish until you see how much detail, character and consistency goes into his portrayals. Better known for his fantasy work on other titles from Leder Games such as Root and Oath, his transition to sci-fi is seamless and elevates the game’s appearance to the next level. The card art in particular, split across several decks, is a delight.

Genre veterans may be slightly surprised by the board, which is compact and features various administrative tracks alongside a circular map outlined in more Ferrin art. But like everything else in the box, it does exactly what it needs to do while looking surprisingly stylish, with neon tones standing out against a classic black space background. Some resource tokens, player mats and a hefty selection of custom combat dice round out the contents.

Rules and How it Plays

You might be surprised to find that a mutated derivative of classic playing card trick-taking, where one player leads a card suit and others have to follow, is at the heart of a 4x game. But that’s what we’ve got here, representing the player’s inability to perfectly control their forces. It’s a typical left-field move from Wehrle, whose creativity can make his games feel hard to grasp. Arcs is no exception, but the good news is that it’s both simpler and more familiar than most of his oeuvre, and you should have everything down quite comfortably by the end of your first session.

Leading is a significant advantage because it allows you to control the tempo of the entire turn. The suit of the card you play determines what actions you can take, such as building, moving or attacking other players, and the number of pips tells you how many of those actions you’re allowed. If you’re going first, you can also declare the ambition printed on the card, which is essentially deciding which facet of the game is going to be worth points on this round, such as having most of a particular resource, or destroying the most enemy pieces in battle, although doing so sets the numeric value of the card to zero.

Players following the leader have difficult decisions to make. If they can match the suit and play a higher value card – easy if the leader went with the ambition – then they can also take the named actions up the number of pips, plus they get to lead next round. Otherwise, their card only gets them a single action, either of the lead type or the type they played, with an option to discard another card to gain that precious lead slot.

Immediately, this snares everyone is a series of strategic traps. Leading is powerful, but if you declare an ambition, you’ll likely lose the initiative, yet if you don’t someone else may later pick a scoring opportunity that’s unfavorable to you. If you’re following, and you can’t beat the lead card, you need to consider whether the high, high price of discarding a card, leaving you out of later rounds completely, is worth it to grab the initiative. And that’s before we even get to what you’re actually going to do with your cards and actions.

Initially, this can feel suffocating, robbing you of choice and demanding pounds of flesh to get the initiative. But with experience you’ll learn there’s nuance here, a surprising amount of strategy around card-counting and timing. And much of the rest of Arcs is dedicated to ensuring you’ve got options, even in the most barren hands of cards imaginable, although there is, as always, a cost for exercising that flexibility.

One method is to sacrifice resources to gain actions. Giving up a fuel allows you to move, for example, or a material to build or repair. Doing so, however, puts you at a disadvantage for ambitions based on that resource, and you’ll need some of that resource in the first place. You gain resources via the tax action on cities, and the planet they’re on determines which resource you get. You start with two cities, so to gain access to new resource types you need to move a fleet there, either battle to take control or build to found a new city, then tax to get your token. It’s no small undertaking, with a whole series of strategic trade-offs to get there.

The other ameliorating factor are guild cards. There are always a selection of four available, and they provide various new powers and resources. Mining Interest will get you a material resource, for example, while Lattice Spies can be discarded to seize the initiative. Getting a card requires two actions: influence, which lets you place agent pieces on an unclaimed card, and secure, which allows you to take a card on which you have a majority of agents. As always, there’s a sting: if another player claims a card on which you have agents, they capture them. This not only deprives you of their use, but the tally of captured agents is another point-scoring opportunity.

Hopefully you can begin to sell the wheels within wheels within wheels of planning a turn in Arcs. Everything is deviously and brilliantly reliant on everything else. Nothing can be achieved without risk or sacrifice. The game hands you all the tools you need to manage this fraught state of affairs but tells you nothing about how to use them: some of the aspects don’t even look like tools at first, just infuriating bits of chaos or mechanical straitjackets that exist only to annoy until you encounter the circumstance in which you can leverage them, and comprehension dawns like an alien sun rising over an extraterrestrial world. But even as you gain experience, trying to make everything join up, to push all the buttons to your advantage, is a fascinating, difficult, multi-faceted challenge that doesn’t get old.

And I haven’t even got to the fact that all the other players will be trying their best to sabotage your plans. Nothing stops players negotiating or making deals so, atop that solid mechanical core, this is a red-blooded game of dynamic aggression, where both dynamic and aggression are the operative words. The movement system and circular board makes it very hard to defend yourself, or to turtle in corners. You might get one speedbump to slow an enemy fleet en route to your major systems, but that’s it. This ensures every turn when battle actions are available ramp up the tension, as everyone tries to be first to take the fight to the enemy.

When fights do erupt, they’re governed by a fascinating, novel dice mechanic. For each ship they have, the attack can choose a type of dice to roll. Skirmish dice have a 50-50 chance of inflicting minor damage. Assault dice are far more punishing, but they carry a risk of damaging your own ships. Raid dice are the most dangerous for the attacker, but they allow you to steal resources from your opponent. The risk versus reward ratio is very much on you, but pieces can take two hits each and the attacker gets to allocate all damage. So Arcs rewards aggression, since the attacking player can eliminate enemy pieces while distributing damage among their own.

Where to Buy

Despite Buying Activision Blizzard for $69 Billion Just Last Year, Microsoft Is Still Looking at Even More Video Game Acquisitions

Microsoft is still in the market for acquisitions despite having splashed out $69 billion for Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard just last year.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Microsoft Gaming boss Phil Spencer said he’s up for buying more companies, although cautioned that nothing’s “imminent” and big deals are off the table for now.

So, if Microsoft does open its wallet once again, what might it spend its billions on? Deals that add “geographic diversity,” including in Asia, might be worthwhile, Spencer said.

Apparently Microsoft’s eyeing up buying another mobile company (Microsoft picked up Candy Crush maker King as part of the Activision Blizzard acquisition).

“We definitely want to be in the market, and when we can find teams and technology and capability that add to what we’re trying to do in gaming at Microsoft, absolutely we will keep our heads up,” Spencer said.

Microsoft is still busy absorbing Activision Blizzard employees, Spencer added, which is why very large deals are probably impossible right now. But that leaves the door open for major acquisitions in the future.

Spencer and co. will probably find future acquisitions easier to get over the line after Donald Trump becomes U.S. president in January. Microsoft faced a tough battle with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over the Activision Blizzard deal — a battle it ultimately won. Wall Street is said to be foaming at the mouth with all the possible mergers and acquisitions that may now go through with Trump as president.

The focus, it seems, is fleshing out its mobile offering ahead of launching an app store of its own. But Microsoft’s App Store and Google Play rival has suffered a number of delays, with staff still trying to figure out a plan. According to Bloomberg, Microsoft still doesn’t have an effective way to get its own store on mobile phones, delaying the launch further.

Microsoft’s gaming aquisition ambitions continue despite cutting an eye-watering 2,550 staff just this year alone, with Xbox mobile game development teams recently hit hard.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Microsoft Confirms Plans to Release an Xbox Handheld, but It’s Years Away

Microsoft Gaming boss Phil Spencer has confirmed the company’s plan to release an Xbox handheld, but stressed it’s years away from release.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Spencer said the “expectation is that we would do something” in the handheld game devices category, but such a device is a few years out.

Microsoft, Spencer said, is currently working on prototypes and considering what it might do, with its team developing its vision for a handheld based on what it learns from looking at the market.

Spencer has made no secret of his desire to enter the handheld console market with Xbox hardware, and practically confirmed the plan to IGN back in June following the 2024 Xbox Games Showcase.

“The future for us in hardware is pretty awesome,” Spencer said at the time. “The work that the team is doing around different form factors, different ways to play, I’m incredibly excited about.

“Today was about the games… but we will have a time to come out and talk more about platform, and we can’t wait to bring it to you.”

When asked if a hypothetical Xbox handheld would be a dedicated gaming platform where you can play games locally (like a Steam Deck or Nintendo Switch), or a cloud-based handheld, Spencer responded: “I think being able to play games locally is really important.”

In an interview with Polygon in March, Spencer listed various features that would make a handheld console “feel like an Xbox,” including having access to all your games with associated save files: “What should we build that will find new players?” he said at the time. “That will allow people to play at times when they couldn’t go play [in the past]?”

Rumors were fueled by the trove of leaked Microsoft documents last fall, which revealed plans for an Xbox handheld. Spencer, however, would later come out to say those plans were outdated.

Xbox had hinted at new hardware in the near-ish future, with Microsoft announcing a multi-year roadmap in February that includes a next-generation Xbox console.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Final Stalker 2 PC System Requirements Confirmed — and You’ll Need 160GB SSD Storage

Stalker 2 developer GSC Game World has confirmed the game’s final PC system requirements ahead of its release date of November 20, 2024.

“Examine the final system requirements carefully, and adjust your machinery for a trouble-free connection to the Noosphere,” GSC tweeted.

GSC provides four graphics presets here: low; medium; high; and epic, as well as a target resolution and FPS for each. The high graphics preset is what GSC calls recommended, and provides 60fps gameplay at 1440p.

For that high graphics preset, you’ll need a Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Ti / RTX 4070 or AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT GPU and 32GB of RAM. Low and medium require 16GB of RAM and less powerful GPUs.

All graphics presets, however, require 160GB of SSD storage, which is a significant footprint worth bearing in mind if you’re planning on playing.

Meanwhile, GSC confirmed Stalker 2 will feature upscaling options for DLSS and FSR. Specifically, Stalker 2 launches with DLSS 3 and Reflex, which means GeForce RTX 40 Series gamers can activate DLSS 3 with Frame Generation and Super Resolution from day-one, accelerating performance.

Stalker 2 PC system requirements:

Low (1080p / 30fps):

  • CPU: Intel Core i7-7700K / AMD Ryzen 5 1600X
  • GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 6GB / AMD Radeon RX 580 8GB / Intel Arc A750
  • RAM: 16GB
  • Storage: 160GB SSD

Medium (1080p / 60 fps):

  • CPU: Intel Core i7-9700K / AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
  • GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super / RTX 4060 / AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT
  • RAM: 16GB
  • Storage: 160GB SSD

High (1440p / 60 fps):

  • CPU: Intel Core i7-11700 / AMD Ryzen 7 5800X
  • GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Ti / RTX 4070 / AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT
  • RAM: 32GB
  • Storage: 160GB SSD

Epic (4K / 60+ fps):

  • CPU: Intel Core i7-13700KF / AMD Ryzen 7 7700X
  • GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 / AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX
  • RAM: 32GB
  • Storage: 160GB SSD

Stalker 2 has suffered a number of understandable delays, most recently in July when the game was due out in September. Ukrainian studio GSC said at the time that the extra two months would give the developers the chance to fix “unexpected anomalies”, aka bugs.

GSC has been vocal about the challenges the studio has faced getting the post-apocalyptic PC and Xbox Series X and S shooter up to scratch after a mixed reaction to its debut public showing last year.

At gamescom 2023, GSC addressed what some had called a “downgrade” sparked by Stalker 2’s then latest gameplay trailer. At the time, GSC told IGN it was still targeting a visual quality and level of polish suggested by Stalker 2’s eye-catching 2021 trailer despite the horrendous conditions suffered by the staff amid the war with Russia.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Lego Horizon Adventures Recasts Late Lance Reddick With Star Trek Actor Tim Russ

Star Trek actor Tim Russ plays Sylens in Lego Horizon Adventures, IGN can confirm.

Russ, who famously plays Tuvok in Star Trek: Voyager, assumes the role of Sylens after Horizon developer Guerrilla Games recast the character following the death of Lance Reddick in March 2023.

Sylens is the deuteragonist of Horizon Zero Dawn and a returning character in its sequel. He allies with protagonist Aloy to discover the truth behind the machines and the fate of the Old Ones. IGN’s Lego Horizons Adventures review returned a 7/10. We said: “Lego Horizon Adventures reimagines Horizon Zero Dawn with a playful Lego twist, simplifying the story while keeping the heart of its key moments and characters.”

Russ played Jetakka in 2022’s Horizon Forbidden West, so has a history with Guerrilla’s action adventure series.

Last month, Guerrilla Games’ senior world artist Lucas Bolt told IGN: “Lance Reddick tragically passed away in 2023, and he is deeply missed within Guerrilla and our community.

“He wonderfully portrayed the essential character of Sylens in Horizon Zero Dawn and Forbidden West. The character of Sylens does appear in LEGO Horizon Adventures, and we will introduce the new actor at a later date. Hearing the voices of other original actors including Ashly Burch as Aloy, JB Blanc as Rost, John Macmillan as Varl and John Hopkins as Erend has really brought back the tone of comradery found in the original game.”

Recasting perhaps suggests Russ will play Sylens in future Horizon games, though nothing has been confirmed on this front yet. Guerrilla is working on a live service Horizon Online multiplayer game, with Horizon 3 potentially a ways off. Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered came out at the end of October.

Reddick, who was also known for his roles in John Wick, Destiny, and The Wire, passed away suddenly from natural causes on March 17. The entertainment and video game industries paid tribute to the actor following his death, with many major names coming forward to share their love.

Photo by Tommaso Boddi/WireImage.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.